Strategies for Building Personal Power - Be Unconquerable

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

In 1875, while lying in a hospital bed after having his leg amputated below the knee, 25-year old William Ernest Henley wrote this poem. Invictus is Latin for unconquerable.

I read this poem as a young child and immediately chose the last stanza as a mantra.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Years later, I matted and framed the poem to hang on the wall in my home and office. I realize now, it carried me through many, many challenging times.

A few years again, I had the honor of hearing Invictus read aloud by Maya Angelou - needless to say I mouthed every word with her, tears streaming down my cheeks.

I recently watched the movie, produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. There was a subtle message that Nelson Mandela was conveying to Francois Pienaar (captain of the South African Rugby team). That message was conveyed in many, many ways before he shared the poem he too had memorized. Learn to live and lead with an unconquerable soul.

Today, let's be unconquerable!

All the best in health and wealth,

Laura